Sunday, November 30, 2008

Actually the title might be a bit misleading this really is the first snowman Marsh and I have ever built. Out of all the snow we've had in the past few years this is this first time the snow has been wet enough for a snowman. After Marsh and I built this snowman we had a snowball fight for an hour or so. We had a really good time. Poor Marsh played and played until he was about frozen into an icecube.
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We are finally home again after being in northern iowa for a better part of a week attending Thanksgivings and visiting family. While it is nice to be out and about visiting people it is always nice to get back home.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Finally the last of our many Thanksgiving dinners has come to an end with no major family catastrophies. When you think about it's amazing that extended families can get together without a major incident especially in an election year. Today everyone was on their best behavior through all the get togethers and hurt feeling were kept to a minimum. Seriously, it was good to see everyone and catch up and I can't wait until next year to do it all again.
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Grandma Marsha bought Marshall some playdough that you can bake into cookies. So tonight Marshall and Jen decided to actually make the cookies. They are having a good time hopefully the cookies taste good.
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The newly weds just showed up for there first holiday and Michelle is decidedly shorter. I know women like to cut there hair when they get married apperntly Michelle took that to a new extreme.
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Well the family is showing up for the last day of festivities and our last Thanksgiving dinner. I'll report on how the day turns out. This is quite a diverse set of people so it should be quite the day.
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Friday, November 28, 2008

After lunch Marshall, Mema, and Grandma Eula dedided to play some cards. As they were playing Marshall got the instructions card out and said he wanted to play the real way. Well Mema takes it from him and says that it reads, "Leave this card in the box and keep playing the way we are playing".
Marshall takes the card back looks at for a second and says "It doesn't say that. There is no L on it!". From the mouths of babes.
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Here at Grandma Eula's she has a rather large collection of singing snowmen. Now of course Clancey couldn't get enough of them singing so he could do his little baby jig. Now the men, as you can see on the TV, on the other hand had the Thanksgiving past time to keep them entertained, football.
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Here we are at our second Thanksgiving celebration at Grandma Eula's house. For those that are unfamiliar Grandma Eula is Jen's Mom's mom. I have to say that Grandma Eula makes probably the best homemade apple pie in the world. So unlike most Thanksgiving dinners for dessert we will have apple pie with ice cream :).
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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Well all of todays Thankgiving events are over and they went fairly well. I got to see a lot of family I hadn't see in quite a few years which was really nice. I did get to regail tails of the Ironman too so I always enjoy that ;). It was good to see Grandma Sharon we hadn't seen her since before Clancey was born so this was the first time she got to see Clancey. Yes I know I'm a really neglectful grandchild but living six hours away that's the way it is sometimes. I did promise that I we would all visit again sometime soon and do intend on keeping that promise. All in all it was a good day and I hope we can do it again soon.
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Here we are at Grandma Sharon's house for Thanksgiving. I haven't seen this part of the family for quite a few years. It should be quite the day.
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Well here it is Thanksgiving Day and we are headed to Grandma Sharons for lunch today. We haven't been to Grandma Sharons house in a couple years so I'm really looking forward to it. In fact I don't believe I've seen that side of the family all together in one place for a long time either. This will be the first of the 3 Thanksgiving we have to attend this weekend so by the end I'm sure I will be familyed out but it will nice to see everyone.

(Update 9:00 am)

This morning at Breakfast we Mema's homemade cinnimon rolls, which for those of you who haven't had them are spectacularly good. After Marshall had his first bite he announced to the group that he was going to eat 5 of them. Now bear in mind besides being darn good they are really big too. So Marshall gets through about 1/2 of one and renounces his previous statement and says "I don't think I can eat five" ;)

On Mema and Papa's way through Cedar Rapids we all got together for lunch at Applebee's. We haven't ate out much with Clancey yet do we will see how this goes. Hopefully we don't have a toddler freaking out before the end of lunch.
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Today when we picked the mail up at the post office I had a letter from "Motor Home" magazine. Hmmm.... I'm not exactly sure how they got my name but apparently someone thought I was starting to get old enough that RVing was an interest of mine. I guess next year for vacation were going to be taking an RV to bluegrass festivals and playing mexican train with the other old people ;).
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Friday, November 21, 2008

Today Jen decided it was time to move Clancey to the booster seat, most likely driven by the fact that she doesn't want to trip over his big tank like high chair anymore. Clancey is doing really well he hasn't thrown his plate on the floor yet ;).
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tonight when we were picking out a Hotwheel for Marshall at Wal-Mart we wondered by the electronics section to check out the video games. While we were standing there I looked down and noticed a whole case full of Wii's. I couldn't believe me eyes, could it be a real Wii for sale in a brick and mortar store. In all my times visiting various electronics sections at Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart I've only ever seen a Wii in stock once and, in fact, while I was standing there they all got sold. So I have to say I was very surprised to see them sitting there. Either A) they are becoming less rare or B) it was dumb luck and they will all be sold out never to be seen again. I bet it's probably the later and I'll kick myself for not buying them all to sell on Ebay. Oh well, if nothing else I will have a story about that one time a saw a bunch of Wii's for sale and have a picture to back it up ;). I will point out though, that Wii Fit was nowhere to be seen.
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Tonight was once again swimming lesson night for Marshall and Clancey. The night didn't start out the best though, while we were eating supper Marshall started to get worried and didn't really want to go. Last week after swim lessons we told him that he would probably have to put his face in the water tonight. So after a week of worrying it finally got the best of him and he figured it would be best to just stay home tonight. After about 15 minutes of convincing him that he wouldn't have to do it if he didn't want too and a promise of new googles if he put his whole head under water we convinced him to go.

When we got the pool Marshall was a still pretty convinced he wasn't going to put his head under water but I noticed right away when he got in the water that he was feeling quite brave. Within the first few minutes he had his mouth in the water blowing bubbles. Then he noticed the kids on the side of the pool jumping from the edge into their parents arms and he really wanted to do that. After a few jumps Marshall was getting really brave, jumping in getting water on his face and nose without getting freaking out. Finally after one jump I asked him if he wanted to put his whole head under water to earn his goggles. He said yes, so I told him to hold his breath shut his eyes and we would do it. Sure enough he closed his eyes, held his breath and I dunked him. He came up a little startled but didn't cry and was ready swim some more. That was a big step for him. In the past anytime he put his head under water he would cry and want to get out, so this was big tonight.

Later on in the night the swim instructor came by and we told her about his conquest, well she wanted him to do it again. Before Marshall could argue she had grabbed him, removed the funoodles he was floating on and had him under water. He did great, once again no tears and in fact was quite a bit less startled then he was the first time. Then she wanted to take it one step further. This time she wanted Marshall to touch his feet to the bottom of the pool. Marshall wasn't real keen on doing this but didn't really argue. She told him to put his legs out straight and dunked him. This time he was under the water for a bit longer. He did it but did panic a little bit and I think he breathed some water in. This time he did cry and really wanted to get out the pool. I knew that if he did there was no way I could convince him to go back to swim lessons again. I found his funoodles again gave them to him to float on but he was still crying and upset. To keep him in the pool I told him we would go to Wal-Mart and pick out a new Hotwheel if he would kick out to the center of the pool and back without crying. Marshall stopped crying pretty quickly and in fact some smiles showed up again by the end.

At the end of the night I was out a new pair of goggles and a Hotwheel but it was a big night for Marshall. Hopefully before next summer Marshall will be jumping in the pool and going under water like an old pro. :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Today I took the day off from work for a sick day. Although sick days in the communication age aren't quite like they used to be. I spent a majority of the day laying on the couch responding to email, IM's and cell phone calls. Then tonight I spent a few hours putting slides together for a meeting I had tomorrow. So by sick day I guess I should say I spent the day laying on the couch working for home.

Clancey is quite the little dancer. Everytime he hears the music start he starts dancing around. It's to the point that as soon as he hears my computer start he squels and jumps around.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Trying to get a 4 year old to sit still long enough to eat supper can be a very hard thing to do. Every night it's the same thing singing, falling off the chair, asking to be excused 400 times it is something else. I've posted a picture of my interpretation of Marshall sitting in his chair at supper time. Ah yes the joys of parenthood ;)

Well we once again have a house full of sick boys. On Friday Marshall started to come down with it pretty bad, last night Clancey started to get it and finally this morning I started to feel my throat getting soar. This morning after Clancey had eaten most of his breakfast he threw it back up all over himself. Hopefully this passes quickly, it's no fun when you have a house full of sick people. Especially when they are kids because you just can't seem to get them to lay down and relax.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tonight when I walked into Marshall's room to put him to bed, I was surprised to find that every stuffed animal he owned was laying on the floor. I asked Marshall what had happened. Marshall proceeded to tell me that he had gotten out all of his animals so mommy would think his room was a jungle, then he said "I got out my gingerbread man to make it scary."This seemed like an odd statement to me because as you can see there is really nothing scary at all about his gingerbread man. He's just a pleasant little guy with a nice smile. So I asked, "Why does the gingerbread man make your room scary?"Marshall then responded with "Because I'm pretending he can talk."At this point I'm still not seeing why that would make the gingerbread man any more frightening so I decided to query further and asked, "I don't understand why that makes it any more scary?"Marshall cleverly answers "Have you ever seen a cookie talk?"I answer, "No I can't say that I've ever seen a cookie talk."He says, "That's why it's scary!"

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Tonight Jen had a meeting to head to so I've been left in charge of the kids. Now I do have to admit that when Daddy's in charge things don't always go so well. Generally at one point in the night both of the kids will be crying at once and the house is always a disater when Jen gets home. Well tonight I was sitting at my computer getting some music ready so the boys and I could dance around for a bit and Clancey comes walking into the room. Clancey didn't have any pants on, we generally take them off at supper so he doesn't get them covered in food, and I can't say I noticed anything out of the ordinary. At this point Clancey tumbles over a toy that was left out early in the day and what to my wondering eyes should appear is a white baby butt. Apparently Clancey had decided to take his diaper off and wonder around the house for awhile but what I don't know is how long he had been walking around without his diaper. Hmmm... Hopefully I don't find a little treat for me on the floor somewhere next ;)

For awhile now Clancey has been saying "Da Da" and "Ma Ma" and as far we can tell he is actually refering to Jen and I. Just recently though in the morning when I'm leaving for work Clancey waves and says "Ba Ba Be" which I'm pretty confident is his way of saying "Bye". This morning though as I was leaving Clancey was waving and saying "Ba Ba Ba" and then he said "Luv you". Now it may just be me hearing things I want to hear but I'm certain he said "Luv you". Every morning when I leave I always tell him "bye" and "I love you" so I suspect that is where he got it from. Now granted I couldn't get him to say it a second time but being he is the cutest and smartest baby on earth I have no doubt that is what he said ;)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

At supper time when Marshall is having trouble staying focused on eating and instead is singing, standing on his chair and doing other non-eating related things I tell him to "focus on the end game". I bet I have told him this well over a hundred times and I'm proud to think it is likely he will say it to his kids someday too. Tonight we were trying to get Marshall ready for his bath and he was being a typical four year old bouncing on the bed, singing, and not focusing on getting ready for bath time so I told him to "focus on the end game". Well Marshall told me it's not supper time it's bath time. I told him that you can "focus on the end game" while your doing many different activities. I then proceeded to ask him if he would tell his kid to "focus on the end game"someday. Marshall answered "Only if they aren't eating their supper properly". I'll tell you what the things that come out of kids mouths is amazing sometimes.

Tonight we have our first official swim lesson. Marshall and Clancey had a great time. I do have to say that swim lessons are apparently a mom thing I am the only dad at the lessons. I'm glad Jen signed up too or it would be kind of weird me and Marshall with all of these women. Anyways, Clancey seems to be taking to the water very well in fact tonight he put his face in the water. Now if we could just get Marshall to put his face in the water. I think we probably should have gotten Marshall to the pool a little early then we did and maybe he wouldn't be so averse to putting his face in the water. I'm sure he'll get there eventually though when I was a kid I took a long time to go under water but once I finally did you couldn't keep me away from the pool after that.
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Monday, November 10, 2008

Tonight at the council meeting we accepted the bid from Maguire Iron to build our water tower, $746,000.00. Our town really needed a new tower ours was nearly 50 years old and started look really bad. I'm amazed we voted and approved a new tower and no one called me to complain about it, maybe no one thought we would actually do it ;). I'm sure once the project starts people will start to voice their opinion but it will be to late then. I'm just happy I was able to be part of the council that got this project off the ground, hopefully it gets done.
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Sunday, November 09, 2008

Clancey is in love with his new shoes. Every morning the first thing he does when he gets up is search for his shoes so he can bring them to Jen or I to put on him. Here he is in his pajamas with his shoes on. It's funny to hear Clancey clomping around the house as he wanders from room to room looking for trouble. I'm beginning to think that he may start demanding to wear them to bed.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Marsh and I hit the Dairy Queen on one of our last stops before heading home. Marshall is starting to get really tired after a long fun day. To tell you the truth so am I. One last stop Aldi and we will be on our way home.
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While we were at Chuck E. Cheese Marsahll won 70 tickets and got to pick out some prizes. Well after we got done at Chuck E. Cheese we decided to walk around the mall. Let me tell you there are some characters at the mall today. I think Marsh and I are going to have fun people watching ;)
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I decided I would surprise Marshall and take him to Chuck E Cheese today. This place is freaking crazy. There are so many kids and parents here you can barely move but Marsh is having a blast. I suspect I will never get him to leave ;).
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It's quesadillias and ice cream day for the Marsh and I. About once a month Marsh and I have a fun day where we head to CR and eat quesadillias at Pancheros and have ice cream at Coldstone. We also hit Best Buy, to look at video games and electronics, you know just a generally fun day for boys. Today when were standing in line at Panchero's Clay Jones, the CEO of Rockwell Collins, and his wife got in line right behind us. I thought about introducing myself but figured he really didn't want to be bothered on his day off. Plus I probably would have said something stupid and gotten fired ;).

Here's a picture that Jen took last week end of Clancey enjoying the fall weather. After we had gotten the leaves raked into a big pile both the boys couldn't get enough of playing in them. Poor Clancey had these huge winter boots on so he could barely walk for most of the day he resorted to crawling. In this picture was just about to jump in the leaves again and I was about to rake them into a pile again ;)

Friday, November 07, 2008

Marshall was digging through the closet full of my old board games a happened upon my Hero Quest game. Marsh decided he wanted me to show him how to play so we nerded out and started to play. I have to say were having a pretty good time playing :)
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Thursday, November 06, 2008

He just got his eyes checked out for the final time and everything is great. A little far sighted but normal for his age. He has an appointment again in 6 months but no issues expected.

[Update 10:30 pm]Kind of a funny story. On the way out of the eye doctor I was holding Clancey and decided to put him down to walk around a bit. The area I put him down in was circled by a bunch of Admin's who were instantly enamered with Clancey. He was walking and talking and all of the Admin's just couldn't get enough of him. Well I decided I should increase the cuteness factor just a bit by playing a song on my Blackberry so Clancey would dance. So there was Clancey jumping up and down, rocking back and forth and just being an all around cute little dude. I think Clancey made those ladies day :)

Well the doctor just came in to checkout Clancey's eyes. Jen and doctor Gray were a little worried that he may have a touch of a lazy eye. After he got checked out the doctor said that he didn't see it and told us we didn't have anything to worry about. They just put some drops in his eyes to dialate them to check one more thing but didn't expect to find anything. So it looks like everything is going to turn out well for Clancey :).
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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Today is an historic day in the United States the first African-American has been elected president. I'm so excited to think I was there in Cedar Rapids the day he announced his candidacy with my son Marshall and I feel so good that I could give him the expierence to be a part of history. Whether you are a democrat or republican this is an historic day and you should feel proud to be an american today.
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Today is finally election day in the U.S. and I'm excited to get home and watch the election coverage on T.V. tonight. Marshall was so excited about going to vote with me that he got up early got dressed and was waiting at 7:00 am to head to the polling site. It's amazing how aware Marshall is about the election, he knows both candidates and says he prefers Barack Obama because he is a better speaker. When we got to the polling place Marshall had a good time but was kind of disappointed that he didn't get to actually vote too. To tell you the truth they should just let him because I'm sure he is more informed then a majority of people who will vote today.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

After a long day of working in the yard I decided to head to Tipton to put some laps in the pool. I really haven't done a whole lot of swimming since the Ironman so if felt really good to get back in the pool. The great part about swimming, unlike biking and running, is that nothing really hurts while you do it so you can swim for a long time without worrying about hurting yourself. My goals is to make it to the pool at least once a week from now on. Got to keep in shape because Ironman Wisconsin is coming up again in 2 years ;)

Being such a nice day out the family decide to head outside for some much needed yard work. We have some gardens that really need love before the winter hits plus it's such a darn nice day out you can hardly sit inside all day. Here is a picture of Clancey playing next to the wheelbarrow batting at some of the barnches that were hanging down.
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Saturday, November 01, 2008

Here we are at Hy-Vee with another huge cart. The two boys are sitting together as you can see and are fighting a bit like brothers tend to do. We do have big news to report Clancey got his first pair of shoes!
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Today we decided to try a new haircut place for Marshall that focuses on kids. They have video games and cars and toys the whole works. Marshall decided to play video games while he got his haircut and much to his surprise they had the marble game too. Before we got here Marshall was really nervous about getting his hair cut but after he saw the xbox 360 his fear went away and he couldn't wait to get in the chair. I'm sure we are going to become regulars of this place ;)
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In honor of the Holiday season officially starting today I thought I would post a picture of some fun from Christmas past and what season isn't complete without a joyous picture taken with the jolly fat man himself Santa Claus.

This morning the boys and I got up and decided to start a band. So Marshall got out his Rock Star guitar from last night, I got out my Guitar Hero guitar, Clancey got out his drum and we started playing. We were pretty good sounded a lot like Fall Out Boy, granted it was playing on the computer speakers behind us, but I would like to think we were doing our part to make the music better ;).

About Me

Levi is a software engineer currently working at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids. Levi lives in Clarence, Iowa where he has lived since 2004 and he is serving his third four year term a city councilman.

When Levi isn't working he spends time raising his two awesome boys, Marshall and Clancey. Levi is also in training for his 9th Ironman Triathlons which will be held in Madison, Wisconsin on September 13th of 2015. .